My adventures in knitting, sewing, and all around craftiness

Things and Stuff…and a Giveaway!

Oh man. There is nothing worse than having to do fieldwork in the middle of winter…with a fever. Needless to say, recovering from that has really limited my crafting lately. In addition, we are getting ready to move next week. J has been boxing our household items up daily, and every time I turn around something has been moved or packed. I dread how much worse it will be after the move- I’m sure I won’t be able to find anything for weeks!

Luckily I was able to get some knitting in before my entire life ends up in boxes. I finished my Opulent Raglan over the holidays. This is hands down my favorite top. It fits great, the color is amazing, and the pattern was a pleasure to knit. I got tons of compliments on it when I wore it to my company holiday party last week. I made some minor modifications to it: instead of a turned hem, I just did a 2×2 rib along the bottom. I also stopped the sleeves just short of the elbow and did a 2×2 rib there. I think this makes for a more versatile top, plus I really hate wearing ruffles.

I also completed my annual New Year’s Cast-On Along project. I needed something quick and simple to cheer me up. This cowl was the perfect thing! Knit with bulky baby alpaca yarn, it knit up in one day and soft and cozy. I found the perfect large, purple buttons to put on it. I love wearing this thing. I’ll be sad when it warms up this spring! (also, please ignore the awful florescent indoor photos. Winter in PA is an awful time to try and get natural lighting.)

I’ve also finally pulled my spinning wheel back out for a few days before we need to pack it up for the move. I have some merino/bamboo blend from MDSW 2010 that I’ve finally decided to dive in and spin. This fiber is like butter. I wish I could remember who the vendor was. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them every year though, so I’ll have to remember to go buy some more this spring.

…that’s a bad photo. I really need to find time to take a photography course of some sort. You always see all these blogs with beautiful photos, and I wish I could make mine look like that. Maybe that will be a goal for this summer.

Finally, exciting news! Over at Rock Solid Designs, we are adding needle rolls to our product line-up. To celebrate, I’ve decided to give away this roll.

All you have to do to win this, is enter the giveaway over here. You need to hurry though! Entries close on January 21, at 11:59pm.